1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a light emitting device incorporated in an image pickup apparatus, such as a digital camera or a digital video camera, and an image pickup apparatus equipped with the light emitting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A strobe device incorporated in an image pickup apparatus, such as a digital camera or a digital video camera, has a strobe base on which are disposed a flash discharge tube, a reflector that reflects light emitted from the flash discharge tube toward an object, and a strobe panel that scatters the reflected light from the reflector. The strobe device is covered with a strobe cover. The flash discharge tube has electrode parts to which are soldered lead wires for current supply, respectively.
By the way, in recent years, with the downsizing of a strobe device caused by downsizing of an image pickup apparatus, the distance between a gap in an area where the strobe cover and the strobe base meet and each electrode part of the flash discharge tube has become shorter, which makes the electrode part of the flash discharge tube prone to be shorted out by external static electricity. For this reason, a technique for protecting the electrode parts of the flash discharge tube is under development so as to prevent external static electricity from causing a short circuit.
For example, there have been proposed a technique in which a lead wire is passed through a tube-like elastic member and the elastic member is thermally shrunk at a location where the lead wire is soldered to the associated electrode part of the flash discharge tube to thereby provide insulation protection for the electrode part of the flash discharge tube, and a technique in which a silicon adhesive is anchored to a location where the lead wire and the associated electrode part of the flash discharge tube are soldered (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. S61-13544).
Further, there has been proposed a technique in which a holding part formed with holes in which electrode parts of the flash discharge tube are fitted, respectively, and an enclosure shape extending from portions close to the holes are integrally formed using an insulating material excellent in elasticity, whereby the electrode parts are held and also soldered portions are protected (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-63688).
However, the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. S61-13544 has a problem of poor assembly workability. For example, in the technique in which the electrode parts of the flash discharge tube are protected by the tube-shaped elastic member, it takes time to perform work for passing each tube-like elastic member over the lead wire associated therewith, and further there is a fear that the tube-shaped elastic member is broken during the work. Further, in the technique in which the silicon adhesive is anchored, it is required to apply the silicon adhesive such that the soldered portion is positively covered with the silicon adhesive, while controlling the amount of the adhesive by visual estimation thereof. Therefor, the quality of resistance to static electricity depends on an individual worker and cannot be made uniform.
On the other hand, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-63688, since the insulating material excellent in elasticity is used not only for holding the electrode parts, but also for protecting the soldered portions, assembly workability is improved. However, since the insulating material only encloses the soldered portions, the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-63688 is inferior in protection against static electricity to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. S61-13544.